Page 161 of Unravel Me

"As I understand it, you’re leaving," Bay says.

"Yes. I’m going to wake Tommy in a minute, and then we’re heading out. Thank you very much for letting us stay."

"Don’t thank me. Alex asked me to, and I’d do anything for him."

Wow, that lands with some weight. There’s a strange intensity on his face as he says it.

"I… wish you and Alex happiness. I believe you’ll make it work someday too," I say, even though I’m not sure of that myself.

Bay’s face tightens, his jaw clenching, and I can almost feel how deeply those words hit him. Then he turns his head because Alex walks into the room, wearing nothing but a long T-shirt, his light hair with its delicate pink tint tousled from sleep. Bay’s eyes darken slightly when he looks at him, and there’s a hunger in his gaze that I’ve only ever seen in Mauro’s eyes when he looked at me.

Alex blinks in surprise when he sees the suitcases lined up by the door. "So you really are leaving?"

I slowly nod, then walk over to him and place my hands on his shoulders, my expression serious.

"Alex, thank you for everything, for always wanting what was best for me. I’m incredibly grateful to you. I’m leaving Florida and moving to Rainbow Springs to live there with my True Mate." I love saying those words out loud, the sound of them is thrilling.

I can see how deeply moved Alex is. His eyes grow slightly misty, and then he pulls me into a tight embrace.

"That makes me so happy, Jared. You’ve suffered so much, you’ve been through a real nightmare. I hope that from now on, everything in your life will finally be perfect…"

We stand there pressed against each other for a moment, and then we head to Tommy’s room together to wake him up before the trip.

As Alex leans over my son and runs a hand through his blond curls, I see Bay standing in the doorway, looking at him, a deep, tragic pain written across his face, the kind that breaks your heart.

◆◆◆

The drive to Rainbow Springs certainly isn’t the easiest. Tommy sleeps through a good portion of it, but for the rest of the trip, he isn’t exactly happy about having to sit in his car seat for so many hours. He’s not used to being on the road for so long.

I have to stop frequently and take breaks, getting him out of the car, walking around with him for a while, and finding something else to occupy him so he can regain his energy for the rest of the trip.

Tommy loves flowers and enjoys looking closely at them. This time of year, though, they’re harder to find in this part of the country. Here and there, I still spot a few frost-bitten pansies in the lawns around gas stations, their petals drooping from the cold.

There are still plenty of hardier plants, though, and Tommy can find something interesting even in ordinary weeds and grass. Sometimes he sits there, completely absorbed, studying a few leaves as if they were just… extraordinary.

But then we have to get back in the car, and he gets fussy.

During the drive, I have to change the radio station several times because the news keeps repeating reports about the death of capo Rocco Ferro, who held the position for only three months after his uncle, Anzo, was imprisoned.

They go on and on about his mysterious death, and there’s also a lot of discussion about Ennio succeeding him as capo.

Many journalists seem hopeful that having the first omega capo could bring much-needed changes to the Ferro family's business and the way they run it.

However, all those stops add hours to the journey, and by the time we reach Rainbow Springs, it’s already around four in the afternoon.

I pull into the driveway, feeling pretty uncertain. My eyes move across the wooden facade, almost swallowed by the tangle of branches from the garden trees. It’s colder today. I think it snowed lightly this morning, because here and there I can see a thin dusting of snow on the ground.

Slowly, I turn toward my little boy. Tommy is dozing, but his sleep is light. In his little hand, he’s holding a wilted pansy he picked from one of the lawns at the gas station.

My gaze returns to Renato’s house, and the rectangle of the doorway catches my attention.

I did leave here under fairly dramatic circumstances, after all, and I wasn’t exactly polite to Renato when I ran off almost in the middle of a conversation.

He asked me to stay, and I refused, so now I can only hope he’ll forgive me.

I unbuckle Tommy from his car seat. He opens his celadon eyes and rubs them with his little hands. Holding him in my arms, I walk to the stairs and ring the doorbell, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu from a week and a half ago, when I showed up here after my heat.

There’s silence for a moment, and then I hear slow footsteps before the door opens unhurriedly.